EXCLUSIVE: “We are looking to launch 2 products in 6-8 months’ time” Says iVOOMi CEO And Co-Founder Ashwin Bhandari

iVOOMi Energy is an EV manufacturer based out of Pune, Maharashtra and has been working on expanding its presence in the electric mobility sector. The manufacturer currently offers two scooters, the iVOOMi S1 and iVOOMi JeetX. We got a chance to catch up with the CEO and co-founder of iVOOMi, Ashwin Bhandari. 

FAME 2 Subsidies 

FAME 2 (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles: phase 2) subsidy plays a huge role in bringing down the final price of electric bikes and electric scooters. However, with the dwindling financial resources dedicated to the subsidy, and changes in the eligibility criteria  many manufacturers have been trying to tweak their offerings in order to conform to the standards set by the government to get the subsidies. 

One of the major requirements is to increase range, and most manufacturers have decided to add in higher capacity batteries to their models to achieve this. But iVOOMi has taken a different approach and is working on making their current battery line-up more efficient. 

When asked about the FAME 2 subsidies  Bhandari had this to say, “We were never into FAME 2. The Jeet is certified for FAME 2 but we have not opted for FAME 2.”

He continued, “It has been an advantage to us, if you notice FAME 2 as a policy it is based on the battery capacity deployed into the scooter. So all the players have put their focus into how to deploy a bigger battery and get more subsidy, while from the start iVOOMi’s focus was ‘how can we deploy a smaller battery and get the same mileage’ and it has worked in our favour as today we are able to achieve 16 watt hour per kilometre.” 

Production Line Expansion and Challenges Manufacturing in India

iVOOMi manufactures its electric scooters at their plant in Chakan, Pune. Regarding the brand’s expansion, Bhandari said that they will start their expansions from 2024 end.

As with any manufacturer based in India, there will be challenges in the journey to establish one’s brand. The CEO shared his concerns at the moment, which included manpower instability and regulatory challenges.

Low Speed EVs

Low speed EVs, while unregulated, have a lot of potential as they are affordable, and offer a no-nonsense means of pocket-friendly transportation. However, iVOOMi doesn’t plan on entering that segment. 

Bhandari said, “We already don’t sell low speed EVs and the focus is on high speed registered scooters which is a regulated market”.

Future Plans

Bhandari has confirmed that the brand is planning on new launches soon. He said “From here we are looking to launch 2 products in 6-8 months’ time”.

But the overall long term focus is different, and according to him, “We are majorly focused on channel expansion and the intermediate target for us is getting 250 to 300 dealers onboarded”. For perspective, Okinawa currently has over 540 dealers across the country. On the other hand, Hero Electric has over 800 touchpoints in India.

While iVOOMi’s expansion and business growth is on track, it will be interesting to see how it challenges its better established rivals including Hero Electric, Okinawa, among others. Moreover, Ola Electric has also been aggressively expanding into the sub Rs 1 lakh segment. The affordable high-speed electric scooter segment certainly looks exciting from a market standpoint.